Chapter Five

The Speed of Sound

“Stupid Ms. Watson, with her stupid rules, in her stupid classroom and her stupid punishment!” Sophie mumbled with anger as she and Charlotte walked through the crowded corridors of their high school.

“Well, you were text messaging during her class,” Charlotte answered with her usual calm and reasonable tone.

“Not the point here,” Sophie said stubbornly, “Please, forget about everything you deem as right and wrong and back me up here for three seconds.”

“What you did was wrong,” but as soon as she looked at Sophie’s face she immediately said, “though I guess she could’ve been a little more lenient.”

“There you go.”

“After all, her presentation on The Long Term Change in Nutrient Cycles of the World’s Forests was severely lacking, both in material and in interest.”

“Exactly! It’s practically her fault I wasn’t paying attention.”

“And she should’ve realized by now that yellow is not her color.”

“Yellow is no one’s color.”

“True.” Charlotte smiled, waving her beautifully straight and long dark-red hair away from her face. “You were talking to that guy again, weren’t you?”

“Adrian?” Sophie asked, to which Charlotte nodded, “Yup.”

“Don’t you think that thing you’ve got going on is… weird?”

“Yes, I do,” she quickly replied, barely avoiding a group of giggling freshman girls.

“I mean, you talk to him everyday.”

“More than once.”

“And you tell him everything.”

“Almost everything.”

“He’s a complete stranger!” Charlotte said, more vehemently, “It’s dangerous and a little disturbing.”

“You’re overreacting.” Sophie tried to shake away her friend’s worries as if they were nothing, while reassuring herself that she was right. And somewhat failing. “That is so out of character for you. Besides, nowadays is perfectly normal to talk to people through-”

“You don’t know him. What keeps you talking to him like this?”

“I do know him. More or less. I guess...”

“I think this has to do with your inherent fear of loneliness. Would you be talking to him if you hadn’t dumped Mark?”

Trying not to feel insulted by her friend’s remarks of her loserness, Sophie decided to concentrate on the other subject Charlotte brought up. “So you do think I dumped Mark?”

“After some consideration, yes, I have concluded that you did dump him.”

“I’m proud of myself.”

“You should be,” Charlotte continued, “now, if you would just control this strange obsession you have for that guy’s voice, I would consider being proud of you too.”

“Stop worrying. I’m not obsessed.”

“You talk to a stranger everyday.”

“He’s not a stranger. Not anymore.”

Charlotte locked her shiny brown eyes on her friend, giving her an unconvinced look.

“You just don’t get it, Charlotte.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

Sophie sighed and Charlotte continued, “Would it be that hard for you to just stop talking to him?”

Sophie looked at her friend with embarrassment, and a slight inkling of guilt, before quickly returning her gaze to the busy and loud corridors. Charlotte’s eyes widened on her pretty face. “Oh my God. You are that attached to him. This can’t be healthy.”

“You’re overreacting again,” Sophie whined.

“What does he have that is so addicting?”

“He listens to me, okay?” Sophie said, “He listens and he makes me laugh. He’s smart and easy going and annoying and arrogant and interesting and he calls me Murphy.”

“Murphy?” Charlotte asked, confused.

“And he sounds pretty hot,” Sophie joked.

“So you’re going by sound now? What kind of crazy are you?”

“He’s my friend.”

“He’s a voice! And a stranger’s one at that!”

“He’s a friend,” Sophie repeated in a final tone. Charlotte knew her well enough to know that the conversation was over and sighed in defeat.

The two girls entered the cafeteria as it was their lunch time. They waited in line, filled up their treys with food and went in search of a free table to sit and eat. After finally finding one and after Sophie smashed her trey into the same unlucky girl again - “You have got to be shitting me!” - the two friends ate and happily chatted about every other issue they could think of, including Charlotte’s newly reached conclusion that yellow could actually look good enough on someone with the right skin tone. Once they were finished, the red haired saw a few of her friends, from the drama classes she took as an extracurricular activity, eating a few tables away.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Alright, I’ll take this time to call Adrian,” Sophie answered with a smile while looking for the cellphone on her bag.

“You’re going to call him now?” Charlotte asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he should be in his lunch break too.”

“You know his schedule?”

“A little. He knows mine too.” Sophie shrugged.

“Of course he does. And you have to call him now?”

“No, I don’t have to, but I want to. It’ll just take a few minutes.”

“Why?”

“He calls me all the time, I figured I should do the same sometimes.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s my friend, he makes me laugh and he calls me Murphy.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and mumbled something that closely resembled the words “freaking insane” before gracefully walking towards her friends’ table. Shrugging off Charlotte’s disapproval once more, Sophie dialed the number and let the cellphone do the rest.

“Murphy,” was the warm answer on the other side.

Ignoring the stupid jump her heart gave at the sound of his voice, Sophie replied with his name as she heard the sound of joking, teasing boys on the other side of the line. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” He almost laughed and she noticed with surprise that he sounded a little embarrassed, which was definitely a first.

“Are you embarrassed about something?”

“No!” he abruptly replied, “Why would I be?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m shameless, you should know that by now,” he joked. The noise and voices that surrounded him seemed to be getting lower and lower and she knew that he had left wherever crowded place he had been on and was now on a quiet area, “I don’t get embarrassed.”

“If you say so…” she teased, “Were you busy?”

“No, just hanging before class starts.”

“I figured. Listen, Adrian, I’ve been thinking…”

“Oh, here we go,” he joked again.

“And I have to admit, I’m getting kind of worried.”

“Something wrong?” His tone changed immediately.

“Well… I don’t know. Maybe…”

“What’s wrong?”

“You would tell me if you thought I was weird, wouldn’t you?”

“I tell you that all the time.” He smiled.

“But you would tell me if I was scary-weird, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, does it make me a freak that I talk to you every day?”

Adrian was silent for a moment. “Yes, it does,” and he added with a mocking tone, “but I tell you that every day, as well.”

“Well, that makes two of us, then.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“But-”

“I’m still awesome though, don’t know if I can say the same about you.”

“Adrian…”

“You really should be getting worried.” He smiled.

“Would you stop joking, I’m trying to be serious here.”

“Take it easy, Murphy. I like crazy, don’t worry.”

“Adrian!”

He laughed. “Alright, alright. Where did that come from, anyway?”

“Charlotte thinks I should stop talking to you.”

“Charlotte is a good friend.”

“So you agree?”

“Definitely.”

“You’re still joking, stop smirking.”

“I’m not!”

“I know you are.”

Adrian laughed again. “Listen Sophie,” and his tone got more serious, “not that I don’t enjoy your occasional issues about your own mental health…”

“I’m glad I entertain you.”

“Just don’t worry, okay?” She could tell he was smiling again. “We’re doing fine, you and I.”

Sophie smiled tenderly at this and murmured, “I think you’re right.”

“Who are you talking to?” She heard a familiar voice say close to her and her blood froze for a few seconds. Looking up at the guy standing in front of her, she saw the last person she was expecting – Mark.

“What?” she stupidly asked him.

“Who are you talking to?” he repeated, his big, brown eyes focused on her and switching back and forth between her own and her cellphone. His voice was stern and she could see that he was making an effort to appear relaxed and merely curious. “You’ve been talking on the phone a lot lately. If I remember correctly, you never liked chatting over the phone before.”

“Well…” she pathetically answered, “I guess that was before.”

“Who is it?” She heard Adrian asking on the other end of the line and she jumped as she had almost forgotten he was there. “Sophie?”

“It’s Mark,” she answered in a weak voice, not taking her eyes out of her ex.

Adrian was silent and she could only hear him taking a deep breath. Mark asked her again, “Who are you talking to?”

“It’s a friend of mine,” she answered him.

“A guy friend?”

“What the fuck does he have to do with it?” Adrian said in an angry tone, “It’s none of his damn business. Sophie, send him to hell.”

“Adrian!” she murmured.

“So it is a guy,” Mark concluded and she could see he was not happy with it, “Where do you know him from?”

“It’s none of your business, Mark,” she answered in an attempt to sound confident, “it’s a friend of mine, you don’t know him.”

“That’s right,” Adrian said in a more relaxed voice than before.

Mark looked around the cafeteria, visibly upset and stroked his brown hair with his hand as he usually did. Putting his hands on the table and leaning forward so as to be almost face level with Sophie, he spoke to her, “Listen babe, I think we need to talk.”

“Talk?” Sophie tried to maintain her composure, except on the inside she was in total-panic mode. “So, now you want to talk, huh?”

“Don’t you think we should?”

“I thought that when we were together, now I just don’t see the point.”

“That’s my girl,” Adrian cheered on the other side.

“You don’t see the point?” Mark repeated, visibly surprised.

“No. It’s too late now. And I’m busy.”

“Sophie...” Mark sighed. “Please, hung up the phone and talk to me.”

“Hey, Murphy!” Adrian sounded excited. “Let me talk to him.”

“No,” she murmured to the cellphone.

“Oh, c’mon,” he pleaded, sounding like he was having fun with the thought, “let me talk to him.”

“Sophie?” Mark was still starring at her intensively.

“Mark...” She sighed. “Not now, okay? Now is not a good time and-“

“When will it be?” he interrupted.

Ignoring Adrian’s - “Never!”- Sophie was about to tell Mark that she really had no idea when, or if, it could happen, when Charlotte blissfully arrived to the rescue.

“Mark,” she calmly said, looking at him with what seemed to be disgust and/or pity.

“Charlotte...” He sighed as if already defeated, not even bothering to look at her. Slowly and without taking his gaze off of Sophie and her cellphone, he stood up again and, before leaving, said, “We’ll talk later then, alright?” To which Sophie could only reply with a nod.

“Murphy.” She heard Adrian call.

“Yes?” she answered in a tired voice. It was like this encounter had drained her energy.

“You never sounded sexier.” He grinned.

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “God, you really are shameless!”

“I am, also, pretty damn amazing. I told you this would happen.”

“Yeah… You really did.”

“I’m proud of you. Your spine is glad to be back, I’m sure.”

She smiled and the bell rang on the other side of the line. “You have to go.”

“Yeah”, he said, “talk to you later.”

“Sure.”

“Sophie,” he called, before she could press the button to end their call.

“Yes?”

“Don’t fall for him again,” he said, with an almost sad tone, “okay?” It was almost like he was pleading.

“Okay.”

When the call was over, Sophie looked at her best friend, now sitting in front of her again. “Well, that was awkward,” Charlotte stated with a tiny smile.

Sophie let her head free-fall to the table. “Tell me about it.”

She suddenly felt exhausted.

A few hours later, Sophie was struggling through the crowd towards the school front entrance. While she bumped against people and was stepped on from all sorts of angles, Charlotte walked in front of her as graceful as a ballerina, barely touching anyone. It was quite a gift she had. Finally out of the busy school, the two friends calmly walked side by side to the nearest bus stop, Sophie breathing quickly like she had just finished a race and Charlotte as immaculate as ever.

“So, I was thinking,” the red-haired started, “since today is Friday, we should go out tonight.”

“That’s a good idea!” Sophie smiled. “We could go to I Scream.”

“I was thinking that maybe we could try a new place this time. You know, to shake things up a little.”

“Really?” Sophie asked, surprised. Charlotte rarely wanted to ‘shake things up’, Sophie was usually the one with the ideas. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about that club that’s about 20 minutes away, Shake.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that one!” Sophie was getting excited. “It’s supposed to be really cool.”

Charlotte smiled. “So you’re in?”

“Sure!”

“Great, I’ll take my mom’s car.”

The bus arrived and they went in. Once inside, they sat next to each other and Charlotte took out her cellphone and started tipping as Sophie ranted on happily about anything and everything that came to her mind until Charlotte interrupted her.

“You should invite Adrian.”

Sophie was caught mid-sentence and, completely shocked, looked at her friend.

“What?”

“You should invite Adrian,” Charlotte repeated, still looking at her cellphone, like it was the most normal thing to say.

“Why would I do that?”

“Why not?” The red-haired finally looked at Sophie.

Sophie eyed Charlotte with suspicion. “Are you serious?”

“I’m always serious.”

That was true.

“You were telling me to stop all contact with him not three hours ago.”

Charlotte shrugged. “Maybe my protective instinct is a little too active. I’ve been thinking and… maybe you should meet him in person.”

“Oh, that’s why you want to go to Shake. It’s closer to-“

“To where he lives, right.” Charlotte focused some of her attention on her cellphone again. “I know you have reservations about meeting him but I think it’s healthier if you actually do it, rather than keep talking to him on the phone like that.”

“But-“

“It’s the perfect meeting place.”

“You mean a nightclub?”

“Of course. It’s a crowded place and I’ll be there.”

“But...“ Sophie was still pretty uncomfortable and insecure with the idea of meeting Adrian in person. “What if-“

“You’ll be fine.” Charlotte looked at her friend and gave her a reassuring smile. “He’ll like you, don’t worry.”

“It’s not that-“

“It is.” Why did she know her so well? “He’ll like you and I’ll be there to help you if you need me.”

Sophie looked through the window, thoughtful. She still wasn’t sure.

“Just think about it,” Charlotte proposed, “meeting him will make me feel better about this.”

Yes, but would it make her feel better about it?

Would it make him feel better about her?

She knew Adrian wanted to meet her in person, he’d been asking for ages. Still, would he regret it once it actually happened? Should she ask him? Maybe he would say no…

After the bus ride, Sophie decided to stop at Papyrus before she went home. She asked for an iced strawberry and vanilla tea and took out her notebook. She always enjoyed a few calm and lonely hours of writing in the late afternoon.

This day though, she was finding it hard to concentrate. She couldn’t shake away the thought of inviting Adrian to hang out that night. She was torn between her will to finally meet him and her insecurities about it. Things were fine just the way they were, but how long before he grew tired of this situation? He didn’t strike her as the most patient guy. And maybe he was right, maybe she was underestimating him. What could go wrong, really? Even if they weren’t each other’s type physically, they were still friends. Hanging out in person would only strengthen their blooming friendship. It was just a friendly meeting, on a casual location, and they would have a lot of fun with each other.

Charlotte was right. Adrian was right. It was time.

Sophie took her phone out of her bag and decided to make the call before she lost the courage to do it.

“Hey,” she casually said, trying to hide the ridiculous tingle of nervousness she was feeling. She was trying to decide which scenario scared her most: his acceptance or his rejection.

“Hello!” was the answer on the other end, which surprised her. Not because of the answer itself, but because of the voice that said it. It was a child’s voice. Sophie looked at her cellphone screen to make sure she had called the right number. Yup, it was Adrian’s name on the screen.

“Huh… Hi,” she stupidly repeated.

“Hi!” the cheerful voice said again on the other side, almost laughing.

“Is… is Adrian there?”

“Are you his girlfriend?” the kid asked with a hint of childish mischief.

Sophie blushed. “No.” She laughed. “I’m just a friend.”

“I’m Kevin.”

“I’m Sophie.”

“Hi, Sophie!”

She laughed again. “Hi, Kevin.”

Kevin laughed, making Sophie melt and her smile wide. He sounded too cute.

“Did you know that Siamese cats are cross-eyed?” he asked her, out of the blue.

“No, I did not know that. You’re super smart, aren’t you?”

“And… and did you know that koalas can sleep 20 hours a day?”

“I didn’t know that, either. Wow… I think my brother might be half-koala.”

“You’re silly!” He laughed. “Are you sure you’re not Adrian’s girlfriend?”

“Yes, I’m very sure.”

Suddenly, she thought she heard Adrian’s voice behind Kevin’s, probably asking him who he was talking to.

“It’s Sophie,” Kevin answered, still holding the phone, “your girlfriend!” And he laughed again.

After a little commotion that she supposed was Adrian taking his cellphone back, Sophie finally heard his attractive voice. “Murphy?”

“Kevin is so cute! Who is he, your little brother?”

“Yeah. You liked him?”

“Are you kidding? He sounds like the most adorable thing ever! I want to hug him and squeeze him and never let go and I haven’t even seen him yet.”

“Ah, if only I was so lucky.” He smirked devilishly. “You hear that, penguin? She already likes you more than me.”

She heard Kevin laugh and she smiled too.

“How come you never told me you had a little brother?”

“It never came up.” He shrugged.

“Never came up? I tell you about my family all the time.” Now that she thought about it, he never did told her anything about his family. “So what else are you hiding from me?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” He seemed to be getting uncomfortable and she couldn’t understand why.

“Okay. So tell me about it.”

“About what?”

“Your family.”

“It’s a family, what else is there to say?” He was definitely defensive.

“Well… Do you have any more siblings?”

“No.”

“Alright. Then…What is your mother’s name? What does she do?”

“Do we really have to-“

“Yes.” She couldn’t understand what the problem was, he never seemed bothered about telling her anything before.

“My mother’s name is Andrea. She works as a secretary in a lawyer’s office.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.”

“Not really.”

“What about your father?”

There was silence.

“Let’s change the subject,” he asked, his tone was serious and final.

Sophie was even more curious. “Why?”

“Because, there’s way more interesting things I can talk to you about,” he answered, trying to keep his cool, “for instance, what are you wearing today?”

But Sophie wouldn’t give up so easily. “No, no, no. I won’t talk to you about anything else until you tell me about your father. I even have a suggestion to make that I think you’ll like...” She tried to sound mysterious. “But I’ll only ask it if you talk about your family.”

Adrian sighed heavily. “Sophie… Please, let’s talk about anything else.”

“Why? Just tell me.”

“I don’t want to.” He sounded angry now.

They both fell into silence for little less than a minute. Sophie feared that maybe she had gone too far.

“Sorry,” she said in an almost whisper.

He sighed again. “No, don’t… Don’t apologize, Sophie. It’s just… I really don’t like to talk about him.”

“Alright, I’ll respect that.” Wishing to change the subject for his sake, she decided to play along with his previous statement. “Well, it so happens that I’m wearing a shirt of your favorite color-“

“My father’s name is Simon,” he interrupted her.

Sophie was silent immediately and let him continue.

“He is a liar, a thief, a coward and a cheater and he left. My mother was still pregnant with Kevin when he decided to leave us in the middle of the night. Didn’t even have the balls to say goodbye. He didn’t even have the guts to say why. He just left. He took his things and ran away.”

Sophie could feel the happy-go-lucky image she had built of him quietly shattering. She had never heard him sound so bitter, so angry and so sad.

“He’s a liar and a coward. When he left, he took all my mother’s money with him.”

“Oh, Adrian…”

“Sophie, please, don’t feel sorry for me. We’re better off without him. We don’t need him. I don’t need him. I will get a scholarship with my basketball skills and I’ll keep studying and helping my mother. And if I don’t get it, I’ll join the army or something like that...”

There were a few more seconds of silence before Sophie broke it, “I’m so sorry-”

“So, what did you want to ask me, anyway?” he quickly interrupted, his voice seemed to have returned to his usual cheerful one, but Sophie didn’t quite believe it. Nevertheless, she decided it was best to let the issue rest for the time being.

“Well, I wanted to ask you…” she stopped, her insecurities returning.

“Yes?”

“Hmm… sodoyouwannameetmetonight?”

He laughed. “What?”

She sighed deeply and repeated the question, slower this time, “I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to come and… meet me? Tonight?” She was pretty sure her heart was suffering from arrhythmia at that point and her voice had reached high notes she didn’t even know she had.

Adrian seemed taken by surprise. “Did I hear you right? Are you actually asking me out?”

She blushed. She wasn’t actually asking him out. It was not like that.

Was it?

“Well, I’m asking you if you want to meet in person. Tonight.”

She could feel him smile widely on the other end of the line. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe it… Finally!”

“So… is that a ‘yes’?”

“Unfortunately… no.” And he sounded disappointed.

Not more than Sophie, though! She didn’t know if she should feel relieved or terrified. Had he just rejected her?

“Oh… okay...” She tried to hide the disappointment from her voice, but as usual, she failed miserably at it.

“No, not like that,” he quickly said, “listen, Murphy…” and he stopped himself. She heard him groan at the phone and sighing. “Why, out of all the days, did you have to choose tonight?”

“What?”

“Murphy, you know I want to meet you, obviously. No question about that. Don’t doubt it! And I love that you have finally agreed to it.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I already have plans for tonight,” he kind of moaned.

“Oh, alright then, no problem, we’ll just… meet another time.”

“No, no, wait. Because I know you’ll end up changing your mind later… I’ll just reschedule my plans.”

“No, Adrian-“

“No big deal, it’s not that important, anyway.”

“I don’t want you to change your plans.”

“And I don’t want you to change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

“Yes, you will,” he made a small pause, “just tell me what you were thinking. Where would you like to meet?” He sounded excited.

“I’m going out with Charlotte tonight. We’re going to that club, Shake. Do you know it?”

“Yeah, I’ve been there before.”

“I was thinking we might meet there, but we can do it another time. Next weekend or something-“

“No, no. That’s perfect! I could go there! I’ll just bring my date with me.”

Sophie did not see that one coming. It was like she had hit a brick wall at maximum speed. “Your date?” she almost choked.

“Yeah. I’m going out on a date tonight,” he answered, relaxed.

“With who?” she asked, before realizing how stupid the question was.

“With a girl.”

“Oh… okay.” She found this tidbit of information a little upsetting. “I bet she’s a cheerleader, huh?”

“Actually, yeah. And a hot one at that.” Once again, he seemed to just be goofing around with her. She could almost imagine him grinning.

“Good. Great. Have fun!”

“I’ll definitely try.”

“Great. Awesome! Good for you.”

“Are you giving me attitude, Murphy?” Again, his laughter only made her feel worse.

“No! Why would I?” she answered, abruptly.

Adrian laughed. “You are!” Then his voice turned to one of mischief. “Are you jealous?”

“No!” she said with too much vehemence, “Why would I be? Just because you’re bringing a girl to our first meeting, big deal.”

“Oh, Murphy,” he said in a seductive tone, “you know at the end of the night it’s you I’m coming back to.”

A few hours later, Sophie had spent way too much time in front of her mirror to be healthy - or comfortable to her. She was usually a catch-whatever-is-set-first-in-the-wardrobe kind of girl, but tonight, she was actually making an effort.

And that scared her.

She had only made an effort for one guy, ever – Mark. And that hadn’t turned out so great, had it? There was just too much pressure tonight – not only was she going to a club she had never been to before, which meant she had no idea how strict they were about who they let in, but she was also meeting Adrian for the first time, which meant she wanted to make a good (great) first impression. Not to mention the ever so delightful prospect of him bringing another girl with him, no doubt a beautiful one with an impeccable style – she had never seen a badly dressed cheerleader.

Not that it was a competition or anything. Not that she felt anything remotely close to jealousy either, after all, she didn’t even know the guy. Yet. Kind of. More or less.

It was all very stressful – to her, at least. Her anxiety levels were usually pretty higher than most people’s, but tonight they were reaching new epic proportions.

After all the drama, she hadn’t even managed to be ready when Charlotte – punctual as ever – arrived at her house to pick her up. Her best friend ended up picking up the pieces of what was left of Sophie’s nervous system and helped her get ready. Sophie was happy with the end result, and since she very rarely was happy about her appearance, it was a small personal victory that helped calm her down.

“Relax,” Charlotte told her on their way to Shake, “You look beautiful.”

Beautiful might be a little exaggerated. She looked pretty, which was good enough for her. She wore a very simple high-waist tight skirt and a modest top, with a pair of beautiful sandals, that were both formal and comfortable (no high-heels – against Charlotte’s recommendation, because she didn’t feel like falling and making an ass of herself, like usual). Charlotte had put up her wild hair into a stylish ponytail and put on her a simple but classy make-up and large earrings. Sophie gave it her own finishing touch by wearing her long jacket and a spring scarf around her neck.

Charlotte, sitting next to her, behind the steering wheel of her mother’s car, looked impeccable and, in Sophie’s opinion, breath-taking. It was very hard to feel beautiful next to her. The red haired had a kind of timeless and effortless beauty that was very hard to match. She looked very elegant and feminine on her dark skinny jeans, knee-high boots with a small high-heel and a simple tank top. Even though she wore heavier make up than Sophie, Charlotte didn’t really need to worry about looking older, her body and her demeanor were enough.

Charlotte raised the volume of the radio, looked at her friend and smiled wildly. “We’re going to have fun tonight!” Sophie thought about Adrian’s words – At the end of the night, it’s you I’m coming back to – and she believed her.

Author's Note - Thank you so much for reading and for the support. I hope everyone liked this new chapter. Sorry if it's too long, but since most of it is dialogue, maybe you can forgive me? Tell me what you think, my fellow wattpaders of awesomeness.